Communities First

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Communities First is a programme designed to increase participation and develop the capacity of Welsh communities to make decisions and run projects. The programme was established by the Welsh Assembly Government’s Department for Social Justice and Regeneration in 2002. It operates within 142 communities in Wales, some of which are geographical based on County Council wards or specific parts of wards. Others communities are based on disadvantaged groups such as ethnic minorities and sensory impaired communities.

[edit] History

The Welsh Assembly grew concerned that many of Wales’ communities were suffering from lack of investment, stagnation, and apathy. It embarked on research in order to identify the areas in need of most attention. In 2000, the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) was released. The WIMD measured six ways how County Council wards compared:

Income

Employment

Health

Education

Housing

Access to Services

There were a total of 865 County Council wards when the report was written and the Social Justice and Regeneration Department chose to make the 100 most deprived wards Communities First areas. The Communities First areas are spread throughout Wales with eighteen local authorities having Communities First areas within their borders. The remaining four local authorities that do not have wards within the one hundred most deprived are Conwy, Ceredigion, Monmouth, and the Vale of Glamorgan, although some of these local authorities have areas of interest based on disadvantaged groups such as geographically isolated communities.

The Communities First Programme is designed as a “bottom up” approach meaning that major strategic decisions are left to the Communities First Partnership and are merely facilitated by the Communities First support teams and other stakeholders outside the community such as business and voluntary organisations.

The makeup of most Communities First Partnerships is based on one third of members being residents of the community itself, one-third as representatives of statutory bodies; the remaining third come from the voluntary and business sectors.

[edit] Key Themes

Although the partnerships are there to oversee the strategy of the programme in each individual area, the Welsh Assembly Government has given guidance in the main subjects that should be considered by the partnerships. These are based on the subject areas covered in 2000’s Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation. The six Key Themes are:

Jobs and Business

Education and Training

Environment

Health and Well being

Active Community

Crime and Community Safety